JASON EASTERLY

Christian Vallejo, 11, a student at Laurel Oak Elementary, examines a science fair project with his father, Carlos, during the Collier County Public School District's 12th Annual Super Science Saturday held at the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center on Saturday.

JASON EASTERLY

Mariah Bell, 7, observes fish in the aquarium of the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center with her mother, Katie Ryan, during the Collier County Public School Districts' 12th Annual Super Science Saturday held at the Learning Center on Saturday.

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There were the classic projects at Saturday’s Collier Regional Science and Engineering Fair: which brand of paper towel is most absorbent, what cleans a penny fastest.

Then there were the locally relevant ones, like what types of light make tomato plants grow taller, and how higher octane fuels affect boat performance.

But of the 115 students who displayed their projects at Rookery Bay’s Environmental Learning Center, only 13 earned a “best of show” award and a spot for their project at the State Science Fair in Lakeland in April.

“This is the highlight of his year,” said winner Michael Balcom’s mother, Ann, after the ceremony.

This will be the second year for her son, an eighth-grader at Cypress Palm Middle School, to compete at the state level.

His winning project this year was the creation of a flashlight that works on motion and not battery.

But Balcom didn’t think his project had what it took to earn him a spot at State.

“I never feel good about my projects,” he said after winning, even though he began planning it before the school year started.

The idea came to him last summer while camping in Georgia.

“I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and didn’t have a flashlight,” he explained after Saturday’s ceremony. “I tripped over a tree stump. Then I thought, ‘a shakable flashlight, why not?’”

In addition to the trip to the state competition, the 13 Best of Show winners also received a $100 gift certificate to Coastland Center mall.

All 11 public middle schools in Collier County participated, as well as St. Ann School.

The oldest entrant, Palmetto Ridge High School 11th-grader Justin Bricker, was absent from the ceremony to perform with the all-state band.

He was the science fair’s Grand Champion with his project: “The effect of abiotic chemical factors on large scale Lemna minor growth prediction,” which earns him a spot at the state competition and a $1,000 check.

“The students have access to a lot more technology and knowledge, much more than five or 10 years ago, which means more advanced projects,” explained Curtis Witthoff, science and environmental education coordinator for the school district.

Lower participation from local high schools in the event meant eighth-graders dominated this year’s competition. The effort needs to be made by school officials to “grow the (high school) program again,” Witthoff added.

“I think it’s an important motivational tool. We’re not as a nation seeing kids going into the math, science and engineering fields. It gives students a first taste to see how real scientists would present to each other.”

On the occasion of the awards ceremony, more than 300 people took advantage of the day’s free admission to the Environmental Learning Center, said the center’s program coordinator, Sarah Falkowski.

Collier County students who earned a spot at the State Science Fair: Justin Bricker, 11th grade, Palmetto Ridge High School; Nicholas Rougraff, ninth grade, Pine Ridge Middle School; Jack Borders, eighth grade, Corkscrew Middle School; Angy Vasquez, seventh grade, Manatee Middle School; Garrett Gould, sixth grade, Gulfview Middle School; Richard Andersson, sixth grade, Gulfview Middle School; Jenna DeFrancesco, eighth grade, Pine Ridge Middle School; Anthony Peters, eighth grade, Gulfview Middle School; Christina Balterman, eighth grade, Oakridge Middle School; Uriel Castillo, eighth grade, Manatee Middle School; Michael Balcom, eighth grade, Cypress Palm Middle School; James Montgomery, seventh grade, Gulfview Middle School; Lee Shearer, seventh grade, Gulfview Middle School.

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E-mail Victoria Macchi at vmmacchi@gmail.com